The machines used to process and manufacture cotton textiles in Biddeford came from machine shops in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and England.
The York Manufacturing Company in Saco produced machinery, but was unable to build everything that was required for the growing mills on both sides of the river.
Eventually more machinery was produced in Biddeford and Saco at the Saco Water Power Machine Shop and its later incarnations as Saco and Pettee Machine Shop, and finally the Saco-Lowell Machine Shop.
